Cicada Wing Thousand Layers

Qin Jue continued choosing martial techniques, his gaze sweeping quickly over row after row of jade slips. He didn't even feel like picking up the Falling Leaf Sword Technique or the Mountain Splitting Saber Technique, with their ordinary-sounding names.

As far as Qin Jue was concerned, those techniques were nothing but common, second-rate stuff. Practicing them would be a waste of time and wouldn't help him improve his combat strength at all.

He spent half an incense stick's time browsing.

At last, Qin Jue's gaze settled on the corner of a bookshelf. A blue-green jade slip lay there, covered in a thick layer of dust.

"Cicada Wing Thousand Layers..."

Qin Jue's heart stirred. He didn't even mind the dust, and casually picked it up, probing it with a sliver of his qi and blood.

"Vmmm—!"

The instant his awareness touched the jade slip, a sharp aura surged up his arm and straight into his mind, jolting his spirit awake.

"The sword is like a cicada's wing, thin and keen. A tremor gives rise to a thousand blades, killing without a sound."

What a fierce sword technique!

Qin Jue suppressed the stirrings in his heart and continued reading. As he did, he couldn't help but click his tongue in astonishment. This sword technique didn't seek to overwhelm its opponents with sheer power; instead, it pushed technique to the absolute limit!

At its heart was an extraordinarily unusual method of circulating qi and blood, making the sword vibrate thousands of times with every breath. It forcibly shattered a seemingly ordinary force into hundreds, even thousands, of tiny blades too fine for the naked eye to discern!

This method of wielding force demanded an almost impossibly precise degree of control. Ordinary martial artists simply couldn't master it. If they tried to cultivate it by force, they wouldn't hurt their enemy; unable to control the sword's vibrations, they would shatter the bones in their hands and leave themselves with hidden injuries.

But for Qin Jue, it was practically tailor-made!

The sword technique had three forms.

The first form, Flap Wings: the sword vibrated at high frequency, and anything it touched was reduced to powder!

The second form, Thousand Threads: Sword Qi flowed like silk, easily tearing through metal!

The third form, Silent: the sword flashed without a trace, killing without a sound!

Yet the instant Qin Jue's divine sense delved into the jade slip, a blood-red warning appeared, every word brimming with an arrogance that looked down on the world:

"I observed the golden cicada shedding its shell and created the Ultimate Form—Single Thought: Floating World Painting! Once this move is unleashed, everything within three zhang will be cut down, with nowhere to run! Yet only those with divine comprehension may learn it, and only those with qi and blood like a dragon may use it! If either comprehension or constitution is lacking, forcing cultivation will bring certain backlash and death! Let those who come after me take heed!"

The signature was only a blurry "Su."

Another Ultimate Form! Qin Jue's heart tightened as he remembered the annotation left by an earlier practitioner in the Tide Rising Sword Technique.

For ordinary martial techniques, reaching perfection was already a feat achieved by one in ten thousand, let alone attaining that ethereal Ultimate Form! Countless predecessors had spent their entire lives without even touching its threshold, and in the end could only die with regrets. That was the difference in comprehension!

By comparison, the creator of Cicada Wing Thousand Layers had truly comprehended an Ultimate Form. They were a once-in-a-generation talent.

To an incompetent person, this warning was a dead end. But in Qin Jue's eyes, it was a dragon gate—a trial set specifically for geniuses!

"Only those with divine comprehension may learn it? I possess the Void Clarity Sword Heart, and my comprehension far surpasses that of ordinary people. I'd like to see just how profound this Ultimate Form is!"

"As for backlash from qi and blood? Ordinary martial artists have mortal bodies, so naturally they can't withstand it. Once I master the Nine Revolutions Viscera Refining Secret Record, my internal organs will be far tougher than those of ordinary people. Whose qi and blood among my peers can compare to mine?"

If no one else could master it, then I would!

Qin Jue didn't hesitate. He pulled out the jade slip containing Cicada Wing Thousand Layers, took it along with the Nine Revolutions Viscera Refining Secret Record, and strode toward the gray-robed steward at the entrance.

"Clack."

Qin Jue placed a book and a jade slip on the wooden counter.

The old steward, who had been keeping his eyes half-closed, slowly opened his cloudy eyes. When he saw the names of the manuals, his brows immediately furrowed.

"The Nine Revolutions Viscera Refining Secret Record... Cicada Wing..."

The old steward's voice was low.

"Ordinary people seek stability. Geniuses seek the 'ultimate.'"

"It's good for young people to have ambition, but reaching too high and too far is often a path to death. Be careful not to get yourself killed."

Faced with this blunt warning, Qin Jue remained calm. He wasn't frightened off; instead, he smiled faintly.

"Disciple will remember the elder's advice."

"However..." Qin Jue paused, his gaze falling on the blue-green jade slip. "I read this slip closely just now and saw the predecessor's warning that only those with divine comprehension may learn it."

"My cultivation is shallow, and I have nothing to my name. But when it comes to 'comprehension,' I do have some confidence. Since this is a test of comprehension, I'd like to give it a try."

"If I can't comprehend it within a month, then I'll know I'm not fated to learn it. I'll return it then, and I absolutely won't force myself to practice it."

Hearing this, the old steward studied Qin Jue deeply, as though he wanted to see where the young man's confidence came from.

After a moment, he suddenly laughed, a trace of meaning in his deeply wrinkled face.

"Give it a try? Hah, interesting."

He shook his head, picked up his seal, and stamped it heavily in the register for the two manuals.

"Young people these days certainly know how to talk big. Very well. Since you have the sense to know when to back down, I won't say any more."

He pushed the manuals back to Qin Jue and returned to his lazy demeanor. "Take them. But I'll make this clear first: if something goes wrong while you're practicing, don't expect the academy to save you. Remember to return them this time next month."

"Thank you for granting my request, Elder."

Qin Jue took the manuals with both hands, bowed respectfully, then turned and strode away.

After leaving the Myriad Scrolls Pavilion, Qin Jue headed straight for the Hundred Refinements Workshop on the west side of the academy.

It was where the academy forged weapons. Its furnaces blazed day and night, and the clang of hammering never ceased.

With one hundred and sixty Battle Merit, and thanks to the academy's privileges for Outer Court Disciples, Qin Jue was entitled to claim one free Mortal Tier Mid-grade weapon.

Standing before the dazzling array of weapons, Qin Jue ignored the flashy but impractical ones and went straight to the farthest corner, where he picked up a long, entirely black sword.

Cold Iron Sword.

Mortal Tier Mid-grade, three chi and three cun long, two and a half fingers wide, and weighing sixty-two jin.

This sword wasn't some ordinary, mass-produced piece of fine steel from a blacksmith's shop. It had been forged from Hundred Refined Steel mixed with thirty percent Deep Sea Cold Iron. Though it was only a Mundane Artifact, its material was exceptionally hard, and a frigid aura seemed to emanate from it.

"Vmmm—!"

Qin Jue flicked his wrist. The sixty-two-jin sword felt weightless in his hand, emitting a deep hum.

What a fine sword!

By the time he returned to the dilapidated courtyard, dusk was drawing near.

Qin Jue shut the doors and windows, laid the Cold Iron Sword across his knees, and spread the Nine Revolutions Viscera Refining Secret Record and Cicada Wing Thousand Layers on the table.

He had a cultivation method, a martial technique, and a weapon.

"Whew..."

Qin Jue slowly exhaled, steadying his emotions. But when his gaze landed on his money pouch, his brows furrowed.

A serious problem stood before him.

Whether it was the medicinal resources needed to cultivate the Nine Revolutions Viscera Refining Secret Record or the meat required to sustain high-intensity training, everything cost money.

A lot of money.

He counted everything he had. Aside from the Battle Merit on his jade token, his pouch held only a little over sixty Gold Coins—not even enough to complete the first revolution of the Nine Revolutions Viscera Refining Secret Record.

"Still short on money. Cultivating the martial path requires wealth, companions, techniques, and a place to train; not one can be missing. Even with a cultivation method that reaches the heavens, without resources to support it, it's no more than a castle in the air, a flower reflected in a mirror."

Qin Jue gave a bitter smile. The soaring ambition he'd felt at the Myriad Scrolls Pavilion was doused by the cruel reality, leaving barely half of it intact.

He rubbed his brow, a trace of helplessness flashing in his eyes.

In Skywind Martial City, the Qin Family was considered a moderately wealthy lineage, with a substantial fortune. But that had nothing to do with him now.

Although the original owner of this body was also surnamed Qin and belonged to the Second Branch, his position was extremely awkward.

Ever since his birth mother died young, his father, Qin Zhenhe, had ignored him, as if he had no son at all. And Liu Ru, his stepmother who managed the Second Branch's Inner Court, naturally directed all the cultivation resources to her own children—his younger brother, Qin Yunze, and younger sister, Qin Yu.

From his memories, Qin Yunze, a legitimate son of the Second Branch with decent aptitude and his parents' favor, received fifty Gold Coins a month just for his allowance.

As for Qin Yunfeng, the gifted cousin from the First Branch hailed as the family's hope, his treatment was even more lavish. They said his daily medicinal baths consumed rare herbs worth dozens of Gold Coins, and the family spared no expense to hire famous masters to guide him.

And Qin Jue?

As an unregarded collateral member of the Second Branch, judged to have "mediocre aptitude," he received a mere ten Gold Coins a month.

Ten Gold Coins might buy several shi of grain and keep an ordinary family fed for a month. But for a martial artist, it wasn't even enough to buy a single portion of Fierce Beast meat.

If the original owner hadn't scrimped and saved, he would probably have struggled even to put food on the table, let alone afford expensive cultivation resources.

"The family's distribution of resources has always been ruthless. The First Branch gets the meat, the legitimate sons of the Second Branch get the soup, and for a collateral like me... even a few scraps are a blessing."

Having lived two lives, he understood this world's rules all too well. In a world where strength reigned supreme, kinship was too fragile to withstand the slightest pressure when faced with absolute self-interest. His father's coldness, his stepmother's disdain, and his cousin's condescending gaze all came down to one thing: this body was too weak!

"There's no point counting on the family."

Qin Jue's face was impassive. He felt no resentment; useless emotions like that would only slow the speed of his sword.

He might be a collateral member of the Qin Family, but he was also a swordsman. In a swordsman's eyes, everything in the world came down to two things: the sword in his hand and the resources beneath its blade.

"If the family won't give it to me, I'll go get it elsewhere."

"Can't let a living person die of holding it in, can you?"